Never Say Never

The Ladies Who Brunch, Book 1

By: Harlow James

Narrated by: Teddy Hamilton, Samantha Brentmoor

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”

When those words left the lips of Damien Shaw, my childhood nemesis, I should have told him to kick rocks right then and there.

But sadly, his scheme to impress his boss left me with something to gain from it too—getting my meddling mother, who was obsessed with my love life, off my back just in time for my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary celebration in Hawaii.

You see, Damien and I grew up together, but we weren’t friends. No—we were rivals.

And when we both moved out to California to go to different colleges, we promised never to think of each other again.

It had been twelve years since we had been face to face, but when he kept popping up everywhere, I should have known that trouble would follow.

And sure enough, during a lunch with my parents he told them we were dating.

I was hellbent on exposing him, but then my mother’s reaction made it hard to say no. So, I ended up fake dating my enemy while trying desperately not to fall for him.

My gut told me to keep my distance. But my heart? That bastard was falling for the man with every sweet gesture he made and every orgasm he gave me.

But when the reason for our rivalry and our fake relationship comes to light, everyone and everything explodes, leaving one hell of a mess to clean up.

I never thought I’d fall for Damien Shaw. I never thought my enemy could force me to figure out my life. But you know what they say—never say never.

TW: Toxic parental relationships

©2022 Harlow James (P)2023 Harlow James

I loved it.

What a great audiobook. Great writing and great narrating that’s the perfect combination. Thanks for the book

What you think you know, can always be proven wrong

Overall this was a good book and the narrators top notch. I was surprised to find myself actually getting a little sick of the open door sex scenes and I was wondering if that was ALL the book was going to be about. The author kept presenting the characters as having difficult childhood experiences with their parents yet nothing deeper was happening with that.

Then, as the title of my review says, what you think you know can always be proven wrong because...

Finally the book moved into some of the deeper issues, touching on Mysogeny, Domestic Violence and Body Shaming. One quote, toward the end will stick with me (I think I have it pretty close) "After trauma, there can be Love and Acceptance."

There was considerable humor, especially in the beginning and the Tampon scenario had me in stitches.

Teddy Hamilton/Andrew Eiden and Ms. Brentmoor were excellent as always.

5 stars

I listened to an audio ALC of this one and it was amazing. Performed in dual narration by Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor. They were perfect as Damien and Charlotte. They both captured the characters voices so well. They killed it with this performance!

This book was compared to Sex in the City and How to Lose A Guy In 10 days, which I both love. I devoured the audiobook in 3 days. There's fake dating, flirty banter, spice and a wonderful group of friends, which are Charlotte's best friends. I loved Charlotte's best friends they were so relatable, funny and very supportive.

I loved Damien and Charlotte together. Even though their relationship started out fake it became more real and natural as if they were dating since the beginning. They had undeniable chemistry. Damien made me swoon so many times. The care and thoughtfulness he had towards Charlotte. Truly noteworthy. I've highlighted so many stuff that he did or said. I just adore them so much.

The story also deals with toxic parental relationships. I thought it was portrayed realistically and didn't overshadow the main conflict.

Love this series!

Never Say Never audio

5 star listen!!

Dual POV/ dual narrators
Enemies to lovers
Fake dating
Strong FMC


Narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor, both of whom I love as narrators.

Never Say Never was funny, steamy, full of hilarious banter, great characters and just overall a really entertaining read.

Charlotte and Damien were childhood rivals who vowed to not even think of eachother once they left for college, but a chance run-in 12 years later might be exactly what needed to happen to solve the current problems they’re both dealing with.

I love that Charlotte was a strong, driven, independent woman, who surrounded herself with the same type of women (and I can’t wait for all of their stories!) and didn’t let men push her around. Damien had me hardcore swooning from the very beginning. Those steamy scenes had me MELTING. I listened to a good portion of this in my car and I found myself driving with a smile on my face, tears down my cheeks and feeling very squirmy in my seat multiple times.

I have come to love Harlow James’ writing and am eager to read the next books from this series and anything else she writes!

4.5 Stunning Story Stars!

Audiobook and Book Review

🩷 Rivals to lovers
💛 Fake dating
🩷 Swingers??
💛 Parental pressure
🩷 Dove chocolates

Story: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you HCB!

It took me a bit to get into this book, but the further I read, the more I found myself enjoying the story and falling for the characters. I loved the realness of the topics that were discussed. Being a woman is hard. There are so many expectations that we have to deal with, and this story covered pretty much all of them. Expectation to be married? Check. Women shouldn’t focus on their careers? Check. Male chauvinism? Check. Maternal pressure? Check. Zero knowledge of periods? Ha. Check.

The way that Harlow James wrote and discussed each of these issues, and more, made this story so extremely relatable. I love that. I connected with that. At times it was downright hilarious, given the gravity of what we as women face each day. The feminine products conversation between Damien and Jeffrey had me literally laughing out loud. Men are so freaking clueless when it comes to women’s health. I love that this book adds levity to this issue.

At the beginning of the story I thought that Damien was SUCH a jerk! Ugh, typical male. As the story goes on he became such a wonderful character that I found myself smiling over. His humor and thoughtfulness, plus his want to learn about females made him so endearing. Not to mention his bedroom antics were *chef’s kiss!* Gah. Could he actually be any sweeter AND shmexier?!

I really liked Charlotte. It took her a very long time to stick up for herself in someways, but I can understand why. As women we’re programmed to be people pleasers and to hold in what we actually feel. I’m glad that Charlotte ‘was too much’ and stood up for herself and women in general. I get why she waffled over Damien. They were freaking rivals for twelve years! I would feel that way too. I adored the two of them together and how they grew close over their fake relationship.

Samantha Brentmoor is awe-inspiring and can do anything. And if she ever thinks she can’t, whether because of being female or being human, I’d like to dispel those thoughts. And here’s how. I’d be her ‘Conscience Ninja’ and karate chop those thoughts straight out of her brilliantly skilled mind. Is that weird? Yeah. Do I take it back? Nope (I popped the P on that, in case you were wondering). S.B. Narration= Effing Awesomeness.

Teddy Hamilton is (hold while I look up several synonyms for amazing…) *ahem* astonishing, breathtaking, marvelous, thrilling, stupefying, phenomenal, stupendous, remarkable, and amazeballs. (Yes, that last one was listed too 😆). He really is all of those things and more. I love how he brought out all of Damien’s sides: cocky, funny, shmexy, serious, domineering, and loving sides. When he narrates any sentence with F*** in it? 🫠🫠 T.H. Narration= Pure Gold.

🍫 "If you can't get someone off your mind, maybe they're supposed to be there. Remember: the mind can recognize what the heart is trying to deny."
🍫 “Sorry, Charlotte. The only time I c*me second is after the woman I’m with c*mes first.”
🍫 “Don’t settle for a spark. Light a fire instead.”
🍫 “You trusting me is such a f***ing turn-on.”
🍫 “F***, Charlotte. You feel incredible.”

Yummy

Damn good listen! Spicy, sweet and romantic! The narrators complement each other very well, being able to mimic each others tones.

Loved The Banter & Spice

Never Say Never is the first book in The Ladies Who Brunch series by Harlow James. It is a spicy story about childhood enemies becoming lovers.
Charlotte and Damien’s parents were close friends and growing up they always had a competition with each other. Both feeling pressure to be perfect by their parents. After they both move away from their hometown in South Carolina, they never plan to see each other again. Well, Never Say Never.
After twelve years without seeing or speaking to each other they end up bumping into each other in LA, where they both live. In order to secure a promotion Damien lies to his boss and tells him he has a girlfriend and Charlotte can’t handle her mom harping on her for not settling down and starting a family. So the two decide it would be mutually beneficial to “fake date” each other.

This was my first Harlow James book and whoa! I absolutely loved it. It took me less than two days to listen to it. Women supporting women, boss babe, brunch, banter and so much spice! This is one of those books that you look at the cover and you are maybe expecting a little spice, but no. This book was super hot! The family aspect of this book, and the pressure some feel to please their parents was absolutely relatable. Charlotte’s explosion at her parent’s vow renewal felt so powerful.

The narration was top notch, it is a dual style narration with Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brenmoor. I love Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor already. So to listen to them bring Charlotte and Damien to life was wonderful. Samantha Brenmoor has hands down one of the best male voices I have heard from a female narrator. It’s not just her voice though (which is raspy and perfect), it’s the emotion that she puts into her performance that makes her so great.
Teddy Hamilton gave a fantastic performance as well. I highly recommend Never Say Never on audio.

Great start to this series!

Never Say Never is book #1 in The Ladies Who Brunch series. I was so excited for this series to be made in audio. NSN is the story of Charlotte and Damien. High school rivals and now both living in L.A., Charlotte and Damien have a chance meeting that leads to a fake dating agreement. Both of them have had to deal with a history of dysfunctional family situations and realize they have more in common than they thought. Y'all, I laughed so much with this one. So many hilarious scenes and banter. This story isn't lacking in steam, either. Each book can be read as a standalone, but you will NOT want to miss this series. These ladies will capture your heart!

The narration was exactly on point. Samantha Brentmoor brought the tough executive, but vulnerable Charlotte and Teddy Hamilton was the perfect little bit alpha, little bit cinnamon roll Damien. This duo gave a solid 5 star performance.

Fun and sexy

I could not put this one on pause. Charlotte and Damien are childhood rivals, always trying to one up the other, and now, twelve years later, they are fake dating to help each other out.
Charlotte- she's a people pleaser when it comes to her mother, but she's also a smart and successful woman. I love the fact that when she's passionate about something, she has no problem going after it.
Damien- oh Damien! he's fun and sexy and knows how to treat a woman despite having a father who is the opposite. He's so attentive when it comes to Charlotte, and it's so attractive.
The story was fun, sexy and captivating in a way that had me not wanting to stop listening. Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton are absolute perfection.

Loved this audiobook!!

This audiobook was amazing!!! I read the ebook but the audio makes it soo much better!! Harlow James is one of my favorite authors and im so glad she’s making this series into audio!!! Can’t wait for the rest to come out!!